What are March's new online family history records?

This month, Ancestry indexes its London Poor Law hospital records, FamilySearch adds a new collection of Hampshire parish records and more

Ancestry has now indexed over 500,000 London Poor Law hospital registers

Tracing your family history has become easier than ever as more and more records are being released online. We've put together a handy guide to help you discover the latest datasets for researching your ancestors.

We're starting the new year with a collection of London Poor Law hospital records on Ancestry, Hampshire parish records on FamilySearch and more.

Ancestry

What's been added?

Ancestry has indexed and digitised 512,961 records admission and discharge records from London’s Poor Law hospitals, dating from 1842 to 1918.

What can the records tell you?

The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act created the Victorian system of workhouses. It was thought that they needed to provide accommodation for the destitute while being so uncomfortable that people would not choose to go there rather than work. However, workhouse hospitals treated many people from outside the workhouse who couldn’t otherwise afford treatment, making it more likely that you will find your ancestors in the collection. Each record shows the borough where the patient was admitted, the parish or Poor Law Union, the date of admission, how old they were and the date of discharge or death.

Where do they come from?

The records were digitised thanks to Ancestry’s partnership with London Metropolitan Archives. They were previously available in Ancestry’s browse-only London records, but have now been indexed, making it possible to search them for your ancestors’ names.

FamilySearch

What's been added?

Free family history website FamilySearch has added transcriptions of 2,071,150 Hampshire parish records, dating from the introduction of parish registration in 1538 until 1980.

What can the records tell you?

The Hampshire parish records collection includes baptisms, marriages and burials, potentially revealing details such as your ancestors’ dates and places of birth, marriage and death, as well as the names of their parents and spouses.

RootsTech 2019, the world's largest family history event, finished on 2 March after a week of family history talks and workshops attended by over 30,000 people, with 80,000 livestream views. If you missed out, don't worry - 23 talks and keynote sessions from RootsTech are available now to watch for free.

What can the records tell you?

This year's RootsTech talks include inspiring keynote addresses by FamilySearch CEO Steve Rockwood, Everybody Loves Raymond actress Patricia Heaton, writer Saroo Brierley and ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro. Expert talks on topics including 'Uncovering Family Stories with British and Irish Newspapers', 'Essential Considerations for DNA Evidence', and 'Heirloom, Documentation or Junk: What to Keep or Toss' are also available.

The Catholic parish registers cover baptisms, marriages and burials, including their date, place and the names of other individuals such as your family member’s parents or spouse.

The Liverpool records are particularly important because the city was the largest emigration port in the world in the 19th century, with roughly nine million people sailing from the city to North America, Australia and New Zealand from 1830 to 1930. If these included your ancestors, you have a good chance of finding them in the registers.

In the 17th and 18th century Church of Scotland, couples who conceived a child out of wedlock would be summoned to the Kirk Session, consisting of the ministers and elders of the parish, to confess their ‘sin’ and be assigned a punishment. The Antenuptial Relationship Index covers historical cases where a child was born out of wedlock. They include the county, the names of the parties, the dates when they were named and confessed or denied the charge, and additional comments on the case.

Where do the records come from?

The Liverpool Catholic records were taken from Liverpool Record Office and the Cincinnati records from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

The Antenuptial Relationship Index was compiled by historian Leah Leneman in the 1980s from historic Kirk Session records.

The Tracing the Belgian Refugees project has launched a new database tracking Belgian refugees who came to Britain in the First World War, with records of over 400 individuals so far.

Families in British India Society volunteers have uploaded 15,376 names from the Times of India arrival and departure notices for 1896 to the society’s database.

TheGenealogist is continuing its digitisation of the 1910 Lloyd George Domesday Survey by adding maps and field books for Kensington and Chelsea.

ScotlandsPeople has added almost 5000 records from the archive of the Highland and Island Emigration Society, which helped emigrants leave Scotland for a new life in Australia. The records cover 1852-1857.

MyHeritage, in partnership with BillionGraves, has completed its project to digitise every cemetery in Israel. 1.5 million gravestones have been photographed in the first countrywide project of its kind.

The National Library of Scotland has added two sets of Second World War-era maps to its website: a set of War Office maps covering Scotland at 1:25,000 scale, and a captured set of 1:50,000 Germany army maps, drawn up in preparation for invading Britain.

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